Lionel Messi was named FIFA’s best footballer of the year 2022 a good two months after winning the World Cup with Argentina. The 35-year-old superstar from Paris Saint-Germain prevailed in the final of the world association’s The Best Gala against his French club colleague Kylian Mbappé and his compatriot Karim Benzema. For Messi, it was the seventh FIFA World Player award since 2009 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on Monday evening, not far from the Arc de Triomphe.
Real Madrid superstars including Benzema and Germany international Antonio Rudiger stayed away from the ceremony. According to Spanish media reports, in protest against the award and the non-consideration of their young star Vinicius Junior on the 26-player shortlist for the world eleven. Officially, it was said that they wanted to prepare for the cup game against FC Barcelona on Thursday.
On Monday evening, as is usual with honors in recent years, a directional dispute raged on social media. Was the choice correct? Was Messi’s outstanding and career-crowning World Cup tournament the right evaluation criterion? Or should the consistently good year of Real striker Benzema, who missed the World Cup injured, have been the yardstick? The camps in the networks argued irreconcilably.
This also ends the German series
The verdict of the vote taken by fans, journalists, coaches and captains of the national teams of all FIFA countries put Messi back on the throne after the World Cup victory in Qatar. As in the dramatic World Cup final with France, Mbappé was only the second winner.
The World Cup was also the mood barometer in the other important men’s price categories. The best goalkeeper was Argentina’s final hero Emiliano Martinez and not Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois. For coaching, Albiceleste boss Lionel Scaloni prevailed over Real’s Carlo Ancelotti and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola. This also ended the German series: Jürgen Klopp (2019 and 2020) and Thomas Tuchel (2021) had been honored for their successes with Liverpool and Chelsea in recent years. 2022 was a dreadful year for German men’s football with Qatar as the low point. After all, Rüdiger had been nominated for the world eleven.
There was no discussion among the women. Spain’s Alexia Putellas from FC Barcelona won again despite missing the European Championship in the summer due to a cruciate ligament rupture. The German European Championship finalists were absent from the individual awards ceremony on stage, with the exception of Ann-Kathrin Berger from Chelsea FC, who had to give way to English European champion Mary Earps in the category of best goalkeeper. After all, Lena Oberdorf was appointed to the world eleven. An emotional highlight was the posthumous tribute to Pelé, who died in December.
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